mmm@weitek.UUCP (Mark Thorson) (09/30/85)
>I have (another) problem with my 79 Renault LeCar. It idles very roughly, >and often stalls at stops. I suggest you remove your carburator jets and clean them out. After I did a major rebuild of the dual Zenith carbs on my "59 Porsche, I had to clean out the jets on THREE separate occasions within one month. A clogged main will cause lack of power when accelerating. A clogged idle will mean roughness and missing at idle, as well as difficulties in starting. The jets are the nozzles through which gas is sprayed into the carburator throats. They are small (1/2 to 2 mm), so any dirt larger than that has the potential to choke off gas to one or more cylinders. For each throat, there will be one main jet for the fuel supply while your accelerator pedal is being pressed and one idling jet for gas while your pedal is up. My Porsche has two dual carbs, so that means there are four throats and eight jets. The jets on my carbs are behind little panels with single bolts and O-ring gaskets. Each jet is a brass tube that screws into threaded holes in the carb. On a VW, the jet is behind (or inside) a big brass bolt that sticks into the side of the carb. I don't know what a Renault carb is like, but I expect there is access to your jets without taking the carb apart or removing it from the intake manifold. You probably would have to dump all the gas in the carb float chamber if you remove the jets, so DON'T SMOKE and don't do this near a gas water heater, etc. On some carbs (like my Zeniths) you don't have to actually take the jets out to clean them out (not the mains, anyway). To clean out the jet once it is removed, poke out any crud with something long and stiff. Insulation stripped off a piece of wire-wrap wire works great. Don't use a piece of wire, though, because that might scrape the inside of the jet (which could change the diameter of the bore). Mark Thorson (...!cae780!weitek!mmm)